Based on the Ibsen play The Wild Duck, The Daughter is the story of crisis and the consequences of secrets.

When Christian (Paul Schneider) returns home for his father Henry's wedding, the rural Australian town is facing possible demise.

Henry (Geoffrey Rush) has just announced that he is closing the mill, and the workers and their families must look elsewhere for employment. The town has lost its main employer.

One of those unemployed is Oliver (Ewen Leslie), Christian's old friend. He opens his home to Christian, who meets Oliver's wife Charlottte (Miranda Otto) and daughter, Hedwig (Odessa Young), and is reunited with Oliver's father Walter (Sam Neill).

Set in a remote part of New South Wales (five hours drive from the city), the film is beautifully shot. The Daughter has a gentle realism, the director respects the characters and the landscape and gives the audience an opportunity to get to know the characters and their home without dragging his feet.

Odessa Young as Hedwig in The Daughter (c) Roadshow Films

The writer/director, in this case Simon Stone, can give a film a unity of vision that is difficult when the director is interpreting the writing of another person.

The Daughter has a solid cast and their work has a naturalism that is very at home in the trees and hills of the Australian landscape. It is a testament to Ibsen that his story can be retold in another environment and retain its core of truth.

Well worth a look.

by Ali Kayn
Australian release 17 Mar 2016
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